Barcelona hammer Sporting to make it five league wins in a row
Messi, Neymar and Suarez were all on target in a comfortable Barcelona win
Barcelona thumped Sporting Gijon 6-1 to keep the pressure on Real Madrid in the La Liga title race.
Lionel Messi and a Juan Rodriguez own goal gave Barca a two goal cushion early on, but Sporting replied on the counter-attack through Carlos Castros.
A brilliant Luis Suarez volley restored the home side’s two goal lead before the break and further goals in the second half from Paco Alcacer, Neymar, Ivan Rakitic completed the rout.
Barca are temporarily, therefore, two points clear of Real Madrid, who host Las Palmas later on Wednesday.
Luis Enrique once again tinkered with his side, leaving Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta on the bench and once again opting for a system which changed between 3-4-3 and 4-4-2 depending on when they had the ball and when they didn’t.
The system had hardly had a chance to be judged when the returning Javier Mascherano clipped a ball behind the Sporting defence.
With the away side’s offside trap all at sea, Messi had the simple task of flicking a head over goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar.
Neymar’s deft pass then sent Suarez through, but the Uruguayan striker forced himself too wide as he rounded Cuellar — luckily his shot, which was going wide, was turned over his own line by Rodriguez.
Real Madrid loanee Burgui then cause trouble at the other end, showing neat footwork to set up Sergio Alvarez, who hit the post.
Samuel Umtiti, who was otherwise impressive, slipped as he the ball bounced off the woodwork, allowing Castro to score from two yards out.
Suarez then produced a stunning volley to make it 3-1, with the Sporting defenders watching in awe as the ball dropped from the sky before being hammered home.
Paco Alcacer replaced Suarez at the break, presumably with upcoming home games Celta Vigo and PS G in mind, and immediately made his mark, finishing well from a Messi pass just four minutes into the second half.
Messi then struck the bar with a chipped free-kick and Neymar was denied a penalty as Barca went in search of a fifth goal.
And then, for the second time this calendar year, Messi was taken off on the hour mark, Andre Gomes replacing him.
The scoring was not over, though. Neymar scored an exquisite free-kick — which was surprisingly his first league goal at Camp Nou this season — and Rakitic completed the scoring with a driven finish from close range.
